New regulation reinforces EU MEPS

Regulatory update to close loopholes and ensure fair competition in the market

There’s some news from Brussels that’s quite important for European motor users. The European Commission has released a new Regulation to amend EU MEPS, the Minimum Energy Performance Standard in the EU market. Commission Regulation (EU) No 4/2014 amends the existing Regulation EC 640/2009, which was passed to implement the EU’s Ecodesign Directive 2005/32/EC.

This update will reinforce the existing Regulation by closing most of the loopholes that have become apparent, and it will help to ensure fair competition in the market. ABB has played an active role in proposing improvements to the existing Regulation and bringing unfair practices to the notice of the market surveillance authorities.

The amendment does not change the scope of EU MEPS as such. Instead it ensures that the efficiency requirements reflect the original spirit of Regulation EC 640/2009 and cover most LV motors. The main changes introduced by the new Regulation are as follows:

In addition to the above, the amendment relaxes the marking requirements for the main rating plate. Taking into account the fact that rating plates on small motors are limited in size, the new Regulation allows manufacturers to mark only the efficiency value at 100% of the load where this is dictated by the size of the plate.

Regulation EU 4/2014 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on January 7, 2014 and enters into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication. There is an additional grace period of six months, however, so the Regulation will be applied from July 27, 2014.

We have prepared a full set of materials about the update, which explain the changes in practical terms. The following are all available:

– EU MEPS brochure
– EU MEPS fact file
– EU MEPS presentation
– EU MEPS article
– ABB LV motors product pages

We have also drawn up a set of Frequently Asked Questions highlighting what the amendment means in practice. The FAQs are included in both the brochure and presentation. We hope this material will help you to fully understand the amendment. If you have any questions, our local teams will be very pleased to help you.